SMART DUST

Reading Time: 3 minutes

 


Dust that creates from particles of soil, pollution, or volcano eruption is not an innovation. It is actually a very unpleasant component of wind that makes you cough. Also, you can think of it as the thing that gathers all over that thick book you got for your 8th birthday from some aunt who was hoping for your bright education. Nevertheless, at the turn of the 21st century came a revolution to dust. With many futuristic ideas set out in novels of such authors like Stanisław Lem or Neal T. Stephenson, one agency of the US Department of Defence started to ponder whether we can apply them in real life. This action sparked an interest of UCLA, and the project of smart dust emerged.

 

So, what is smart dust?

 

The best way to think about smart dust is as a tiny microelectromechanical system (MEMS). The other name for these systems is motes. They can be found in many shapes, but usually, smart dust devices are tiny sensors or robots. What is worth pointing out is that these nano-structured mechanisms come with numerous remarkable abilities. This seemingly crazy technological innovation straight from the future combines computing, sensing, and wireless communication in a small autonomous powered device. As smart dust is typically not more than a few millimeters, it can be brought into the environment just like a particle of dust. This feature enables it to enter any small space and for example, check its humidity. Despite smart dust small size, it can store an actually significant amount of data and wirelessly connect to other MEMS. It can also detect everything from light to vibrations and report the features of a particular region in a matter of seconds. Moreover, these devices are connected to the onboard computer with which they can process collected data.

 

For what we can use it?

 

This kind of Internet of Things (IoT) technology first emerged with hopes to apply it in the military dimension. Smart dust can be used in warfare to determine the traits of the battlefield, which is very important for creating a good strategy. As it is almost invisible, its abilities give the opportunity to drag the victory of smart dust’s user side. With this also comes its application in security departments, as MEMS can keep an eye on people and products. Furthermore, the knowledge of the environment is a matter of utmost importance not only for the military but also for agriculture. Because of that, smart dust devices pathed its way into farming as it can monitor particular crops to ascertain the amount of water, fertilizer, and pest control needs. The most extraordinary application can be found in a paper written by a couple of researchers at UC Berkeley as they devised neural dust which could be implanted on the human brain in order to measure its functioning. As this technology might sound way too futuristic for you to have it, you can actually print it in a 3D printer. There are a few commercially available schemes and projects which you can deploy with not so enormous budget.

 

 

To sum up, smart dust is undoubtedly revolutionizing in many industries. The most promising applications can be found in healthcare and security. It disrupts mundane solutions with cutting-edge technology. But there is also a dark side. As this technology is targeted into supervising and is barely traceable, it raises questions about privacy. How can we be sure anybody doesn’t spy on us? With that question in mind and knowledge that anybody can create smart dust and use it anywhere, the reflection elevates data protection to a whole new level.

 

Resources:

  • https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/09/16/smart-dust-is-coming-are-you-ready/
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnnWrLt_RCo
  • https://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseackerman/2013/07/19/how-smart-dust-could-be-used-to-monitor-human-thought/#4027a3197ebf
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufr7ZT1CNwA
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartdust

Leave a Reply

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.